Flow
by TheLaughingstockOfPassersby
Summary: Three years since Jellyfish formed, Kuranosuke's life has never been better. He's surrounded by haute couture, beautiful women, and the biggest names in the industry. And he's in love. One problem-she's in love with his older brother. KT


_Hi everyone! I apologise in advance for a few things here. One-the crappy name. It seemed to fit both the story and the manga in all it's vagueness...so...yeah. Two-that this may not be updated quickly. I am still interested in this fandom, so I could get crazy inspired any day now, for all I know! But the vast majority of this was written a while ago, and I just decided to post it tonight. I do hope to continue it, however. :) No beta, and I apologise._

_This was written for pure entertainment, so I hope you enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Flow<strong>

_**Chapter 1**_

**_by: TLS_**

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><p>"Tsukimi…dammit!" Kuranosuke found himself growling under his breath, very uncharacteristic of the normally eloquent boy. Tsukimi was in the middle of her room at the Amamizukan, seemingly frozen solid. It was a common occurrence for her ever since she befriended (?) the rich politician's son now invading her room and was subjected to his frequent gender transformations. No matter how often she saw him as a boy, Tsukimi couldn't be completely comfortable with it—boys were foreign to the Amars, after all. And she was an Amar, even if she didn't completely fit the criteria anymore.<p>

Kuranosuke was not amused, "Aren't you used to me already? For the love of… It's not like you found out_ yesterday_. We've been partners for three years!" His hands were high on his angular hips, and his stance was cocked in a rather feminine manner, but there was definitely a boy before her. Tsukimi refused to move. "Tsukimi!"

In a move straight out of a horror film, her head turned stiffly to face him. It was a creepy face, Kuranosuke had to admit, and she pulled it off rather well. He decided to let the subject drop in order to try and coax his reluctant partner into a more profitable conversation. There was nothing to be had from talking to a statue. Sighing, the blond reached up and put his hair in a slight ponytail. It wasn't completely feminine, but it was enough for Tsukimi who had finally begun to look at him again. Really, he thought to himself, she's almost more trouble than she's worth.

"So Tsukimi, do you have those sketches for the new line yet? I need to have them proofed and sent in for production by next week." The young dark-haired woman gave him a pained glance and hesitated for a minute.

"Yes…well, kind of. A few…well, not really."

Kuranosuke's eye began to twitch, "So which is it? Yes or no?"

"Well you see Kuranosuke…I was sketching the other day at the aquarium to try and get inspired, and it was really working! I had some really great ideas for the fall line, and we would even be able to reuse some of the fabric left over from last season for the accessories! I was ecstatic, naturally." The rich boy rolled his eyes affectionately at his friend's characteristic ranting. Anything having to do with jellyfish, the aquarium, or saving money always sent her into her own little dream world. He knew from experience that he'd be lucky to get her back on track again enough to answer his question. Her eyes were lit up in a discussion that she might as well have been having with a brick wall. Tsukimi really was adorable when she got like that…

Three years and a fairly-successful fashion line after their fateful meeting and the two were nearing the top of their game. Jellyfish had become well-known for its graceful, yet unique dresses, and the line had even begun putting out more casual clothing: blouses, dress shirts and even a few skirts and pairs of pants. It had been a risky move, but then again, risky was what Kuranosuke was known for. Without his guts, their line would never have taken off. And now he and Tsukimi were well known in the fashion world—his crossdressing, her bizarre designs and their very unlikely partnership had made quite an impression on everyone they'd met.

"—and I really couldn't just _leave_ and not see the new exhibit! You know I hardly ever get to go over to see them and…well…they _miss_ me Kuranosuke!" The aforementioned blinked out of his thoughts and gave his friend a wry smile.

"The jellyfish?" he asked.

Tsukimi pursed her lips cutely in a pout, "Yes. And I know you think it's stupid…"

"I don't think it's stupid, 'kimi." Kuranosuke's soft tone surprised her, as well as the affectionate nickname he'd adopted for her several years before. It wasn't often that he called her that, but every time he did Tsukimi found it hard to look at her longtime friend, regardless of his current projected gender. She sensed, rather than saw, Kuranosuke lean down and sit across from her. "I know the jellyfish are important to you. But so is our clothes line. And we really need those sketches…I can't do this without you." His hand tentatively reached out and brushed hers affectionately where it rested on her desk. Their eyes met, and Tsukimi smiled sheepishly in response to her partner's playful grin.

She bit her lip and rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner, "Weeeeeelllll…if you are so very desperate for the jellyfish…" she smiled and grabbed a small stack of paper near her, "Here. I had a few drawings finished from the early part of my aquarium visit. It wasn't all unproductive, you know."

Kuranosuke flipped through the pages briefly, eyes following the elegant pencil marks in an appreciative manner. "These are great, Tsukimi," he told her, standing back up, "Just give me more of this, and we'll be ready in no time!" He was about to make his exit from her sanctuary when he heard a soft murmur from behind him. The blond turned around distractedly.

"Uh, yeah, Tsukimi? What did you say? Sorry, I was in my own little world for a minute there." She had a soft blush on her face, which instantly caught Kuranosuke's attention. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"I, uh…I saw your brother when I was at the aquarium," she muttered. "He seemed like he needed to speak with you."

Kuranosuke grit his teeth and let out a harsh laugh, "Somehow I really doubt that." His previous good mood was all but gone with the mention of his older brother. The older brother that always seemed to get everything he himself had ever wanted…the brother that Tsukimi, _his _Tsukimi was still pining over. It just wasn't fair. Shuu didn't even know Tsukimi—not like Kuranosuke knew her. She was a pain in the ass, completely unfashionable, borderline useless and so obsessed with jellyfish that he wouldn't be surprised if her dream was to become one herself. There was nothing overly redeeming about her, so why did his older brother—the perfect, virginal, never-wrong Shuu—have to be so interested in her? Their match-up just didn't make sense. Kuranosuke ignored the inner voice in his head that told him any match-up with Tsukimi didn't make sense. The girl just wasn't fit for the dating scene.

Tsukimi wouldn't look at him again, "I think you should talk with him. He seemed serious."

"He's always serious."

She ignored his snappy tone, "I mean it."

There was tension in the air for a minute, the kind that didn't normally pervade their easy friendship and partnership. Tsukimi still refused to raise her gaze. The blond clenched his teeth together for a minute then let go, letting out a breath as he did so. His reply sounded more masculine than either of them were used to when he replied, "Yeah, okay. Maybe. Hey, I need to go get these over to editing, so…I'll see you later, all right?" And then, as if an olive branch had been extended, the tension eased, and Tsukimi met his eyes fondly.

"See you."

Her friend and partner scrutinized her playfully as he left, "Get those sketches done!" echoed in the hallway as he made his way down it, and out to the street towards their more official headquarters.

Jellyfish had had a rocky start, with just he, a doll fanatic and the five Amars (six if you counted Mejiro-sensei) working on the prototypes for a still-fledgling clothes line. Looking back, and knowing what he did now about clothes production, Kuranosuke was surprised that they'd actually succeeded in creating anything, let alone a good start to what would become known as Jellyfish. As Jellyfish had taken off, however, it had become unreasonable to assume that they could continue production at Amamizukan, or indeed continue with so few people. The other Amars, aside from Tsukimi, had slowly (albeit unanimously) decided that they would rather pursue their own interests than continue "slaving away", as they put it, making dresses for people they had no interest in. Even the thought of money did not dissuade them. Kuranosuke hadn't been exactly upset at their decision to leave the enterprise, but he couldn't help but admit that he missed their utter absurdity every once in a while.

A lot of things had changed after that. Jellyfish had been around a year old at that time, and with the headquarters of their new business changing its address, a few things had made themselves known to the Amars, and indeed to Kuranosuke himself. The first change was that all of the Amars (excluding Mejiro-sensei, who they all agreed was better off not knowing), now knew that the politician's son was indeed an actual male, as opposed to a woman who was forced to dress like a man for family reasons. How the group of misfit girls—surprisingly as sharp as they were strange—could believe such a ridiculous lie for so long baffled Kuranosuke to no end. Their reaction to this revelation was far from expected. Each reaction was slightly different from the next, but the general consensus among them was to just ignore the fact that they knew the blond's real gender, as if he'd never mentioned it. It wasn't too hard, he assumed, as he was constantly dressed like a girl for work anyway. The few times he did show up to the Amamizukan looking like a male, he was treated with distanced civility. It was odd, but having known the eccentric group of fujoushi for three years now, Kuranosuke was far from being surprised at anything they did.

The second thing that had changed was Kuranosuke himself. He'd done a lot of thinking while struggling to keep his budding fashion line afloat, and one day had just decided to stop kidding himself. There were very few redeeming qualities in Tsukimi; she was obsessed with jellyfish, she spent most of her time wrapped up in unproductive (and uninteresting) activities, and she had about the worst eye for personal style that he'd ever seen in a human being, ever. But his heart could not be denied. He cared about her…a lot. More than he wanted to admit out loud. It had started as respect for her character with a small bit of attraction thrown in, but in three years it had snowballed, and he was in deep.

He was in love with her.

He was in love with her, and she was still blushing at pictures of his boring older brother. Not to mention said older brother was more than a little interested in Tsukimi himself. It was a big mess…the whole lot of it, and most days Kuranosuke found solace simply in pretending none of it existed—including his older brother. It was just less painful that way.

Deciding to go back to his dad's mansion and take one of the Benz' instead of walking to the Jellyfish office, Kuranosuke made a sharp left and continued down the familiar route. His thoughts drifted to the papers clutched carefully in his hand. They were truly amazing. Tsukimi had outdone herself this time. It seemed like every time she worked on new designs she matured as an artist—it was inspiring. It made the young man truly happy that he hadn't given up on Jellyfish when things had gotten difficult. Seeing Tsukimi flourish like he always knew she could…it was worth it. Becoming an international name in fashion was also a bonus, though. He couldn't deny he liked the exclusive couture it brought his way, either.

"Ah, well…can't beat a win-win situation," he murmured softly to himself.

The blond boy was halfway up his driveway when he noticed a familiar figure making his way out the front door of the mansion. A scowl instantly graced his face, and Kuranosuke honestly considered turning right around and walking back the way he came just to get away from the possibility of having to talk to his brother. _Half-brother_, he thought to himself. But that option was almost instantly made impossible, as Shuu had turned from having closed the door and could now see the entirety of their front lawn—and was heading straight towards him.

A glint of light caught the older man's glasses and struck Kuranosuke straight in the eye, causing his scowl to deepen even as he winced away from its glare.

"Kuranosuke, what are you doing here?"

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><p><em>Why are crossdressing guys so freakin' hot? The world will never know the answer to this sage question...LOL I'm just a weirdo.<em>

_Hope you wrought some enjoyment out of this poor product of my feeble mind. Hehehe :3 Review if you want. I'm cool either way._

_**~TLS**_


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